Water-borne swimming pool



3 Sheets-,Sheet l March 15, 1949. K. H. STEHR WATERBORNE SWIMMING Pool.

Filed Nov. 7, 1944 u Av nbdi@ ffm" March 15, 1949. K.A H. sTl-:HR2,464,358

WATERBORNE SWIMMING POOL Filed Nov. 7, 1944 s sheets-sheet s PatentedMar. 15, 1949 UNITED STATES OFFICE 7 Claims.

Thisv invention relates to an improvediiexible waterborne carrier andhas for an object to pro'- vide a waterbornefcarrier which issupportedby a plurality of floats connected. together by exzibleresilient meansv so that the: relationship of the oats to each other mayhe changed when different forces are applied. to. the. several iioatsso` that the carrier may adapt itself to difterent. conditions ofloading and support.`

Another object is to provideV a'. waterborne carrier so constructed andarranged. that it may be distorted by normal exterior forces, such as;eccentric loads and/or Waves, toconorm in part toA the diierentialaction of such forces.

Another object is to provide a waterborne: `car-- rier comprising aplurality of. floats connected together by resilient means. suchas. adeck or an apron surrounding a. swimming` pool.

Another object is to provide. such a resilient waterborne carriercomprising. aplurality of rowsof oats, all of said oatsi being.connected by means of a flexible deck or aproIrsaid floats beingseparated both longitudinally and transversely tok permitdisplacementthereof relative toeach` other whether the lexure occurslongitudinallyor transversely.

Another object is to` prov-idea landing oats,

swimming floats,- and swimming pools embody-y ing a plurality of oats.connectedzonly by rersilient means.

A further object is to provide a swimmingiioat supported by floatsconnected only by resilient.

means, the sides of the swimming compartmenty being formed o non-rigidmaterial so. as not yto interfere with the flexing ofy the structureresult'- ing from waves or eccentric loading.

. Another object is` to provide such a swimming'.` pool having a rigidpersonnel-supporting oor so-v specification as illustrated. by the.accompanying;

drawingsillustrative of the invention, in which drawings:

Figs. 1, and 1A illustratevschernatcally respectively a rigid carrierand a flexible resilientcar rieruniformly loaded in calm water;

Figs. 2 and. 2A illustrate respectively the sameA carriers in` calmwater', showing the combined.

Fig. 6 illustrates. av practical application of they invention' in theform ofa swimming pool shownv inelevation;

Fig. 'l is a plan View of the device of Fig. 6, certain parts beingcutaway;

Fig. 8 is an elevation of a modified form of swimming pool. embodyingthe invention;

Fig.. 9 is a plan view of the form of Fig. 8, certainpartsbeingzshownbroken away;

Fig. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along.v the line .Ill-l0- ofFig.r 9; looking in the direction indicated` by the: arrows.

Heretofore it has been the usual practice in; designing waterborne.carriers such as ships.. landing oats, swimming floats, and swimmingpools, to; provide maximum rigidity so that the carrier or vessel willbe distorted as little as pos'- sible byl theA application ofdifferential external forces, such as the forces developed by waves and.eccentric loading. To this end, adequate longitudinal, and transversebracing was introduced. added to the. weight ofv the vehicle andv inaccordance with the discoveries of the applicant,l introduced certaindisadvantagesfrom the stand point; of stability; The applicant hasdiscovered that byvr securing buoyancy by means of a plu*- v rality of,oats and connecting said iioats byy relatively exible resilient means,important advantages cany be. attained. These advantages will become.apparent from: a. study of Figs. 1 t0 5 i1.- lustrating a rigidlyconstructed. float-type carrier l under various4v conditions and the.corresponding.`

Figs. 1A to 5A illustrating a exible resilient. carrier made inaccordance with applicants invention under the same conditions.

ln Figs. 1 to 5, il indicates a plurality of floats shown forconvenience as cylindrical in crosssection. They are shown connectedtogether by links l2 and connected by struts i3 with a deck I4.Furthermore, diagonal braces i5 are provided, as shown, to form a trussstructure giving maximum rigidity to the structure supported by thefloats.

Figs. lA to 5A show applicants invention schematically in which aplurality of floats 2l are connected by struts 23 to a flexibleresilient deck 2li. The deck is intentionally made flexible and nobraces are provided. For this reason and because the floats are spacedso that they do not interfere when they move toward each other, theentire structure is permitted to .be distorted in response todifferential forces acting thereupon. It is to be understood that theremay be a plurality of rows of floats H and 2l, in which event, thestructure of Figs. lA to 5A will have ilexibility, not onlylongitudinally of the carrier but also transversely. However, aconsideration of the longitudinal ilexibility will be sufficient toillustrate the invention.

There is no substantial difference between the situation as shown inFigs. 1 and 1A. The water is shown as calm and the loading is uniformand of such an amount that the floats are submerged to their centers,the loading comprising the weight of the structure itself plus auniformly distributed applied load. A difference in action becomesapparent however under the conditions shown in Figs. 2 and 2A. In thesecases the loading includes for purposes of illustration a weight P whichapplies an eccentric load near one of the carrier. In the case of therigid carrier, Fig. 2, the two rearmost floats have completely left thewater and therefore are no longer capable of adding any buoyancy to thecarrier. Their lifting effect must be taken by the other floats, four ofwhich are shown fully submerged, and the other a little less thanone-half. This carrier is entirely unstable and will capsize under theaction of load P. This is apparent from the fact that further depressionof the forward end will not result in displacement of more water.Downward motion of the first four floats will not add to buoyancy, sothat the inescapable result is that the structure will continue to movein a clockwise direction and will capsize.

However, in the flexible resilient construction,

as shown in Fig. 2A, the flexibility permits the,

rearmost floats to remain in the water and therefore to provide at leasta part of the buoyancy. None of the floats is completely out of thewater. Further depression of the forward part of the carrier wouldresult in submerging more of the floats, and therefore increase thedisplacement. Therefore a point of stability is reached and capsizingdoes not occur.

The results depicted in Figs. 2 and 2A have been proved by experiment.Rigid and resilient structures of the saine weight have been built andloaded as indicated. With a certain eccentric loading P the flexiblestructure assumed the shape shown in Fig. 2A. The structure did notcapsize but was capable of supporting additional weight. The rigidstructure, on the other hand, capsized when loaded eccentrically in thesame manner and to the same extent. Mathematical' analysis shows thesame result. While the analysis is rather difficult and complicated itshows that the resilient carrier, as loaded in Fig. 2A, still has apositive righting moment whereas the rigid structures has no rightingmoment whatever and will therefore capsize.

This characteristic of applicants flexible resilient carrier is veryimportant in boat landing floats, swimming floats, and floating swimmingpools. In the case of rigid structures, if the users of such floats orswimming pools are attracted to one end or one side thereof capsizingmay readily take place before the users can move back to the higherparts thereof and thus restore the righting moment. This may result insubmerging the occupants and possibly causing loss of life. In the case,however, of applicants flexible resilient structure sufficient stabilityremains t0 assure the safety of the occupants. In the case of theflexible structure, the deck at its loaded end assumes a larger anglerelative to the horizontal with relatively small eccentric loading. Thisslope serves as a warning to users and causes them to move toward theother end of the structure long before capsizing could possibly takeplace.

The flexible construction also has important advantages in rough water.Thus, in the hugging condition shown in Figs. 3 and 3A, the rigidstructure is balanced on the tip of a wave, the two end floats beingcompletely out of the water and the three middle floats being almostentirely submerged, whereas the second and sixth floats are each aboutone-eighth submerged. It is obvious that a slight advance of the wavewill cause the structure to oscillate violently about its medialhorizontal transverse axis. This sudden acceleration adds greatly to thediscomfort of passengers thereon and may be sumcient to causesubmergence of one end and capsizing. On the other hand, as is shown inFig. 3A, the flexible carrier will adapt itself to a large extent to theprofile of the wave. The end floats are still in the water, being raisedonly slightly due to the reaction of the resilient deck, but they stillcontribute greatly to the displacement and therefore to the buoyancy. Asthe wave passes on, there is no violent pitching of the carrier whichreadily accommodates itself to the change of the wave form by which itis supported at the moment. There is therefore no tendency towardcapsizing as the wave moves forward.

A similar advantageous result of the resilient structure in the saggingcondition is illustrated in Figs. 4 and 4A. The rigid structure of Fig.4 cannot accommodate itself to the wave form so that the end floats arecompletely submerged and the middle floats carry no load. The load theywould normally carry must therefore be carried by the other floats. Itwill be seen that the ends of the deck are even with the water. As thewave progresses there would be little tendency for the end to lift sincethe end float is already completely submerged. The wave would thereforepass over the deck and possibly wash away its occupants or cargo. On theother hand, the ilexble resilient carrier, as shown in Fig. 4A, willsubstantially adapt itself to the wave form. The end floats aresubmerged only partly and as the wave progresses, the buoyancy of theend float is suilicient to lift the carrier and prevent swamping.

It will be further noted that the flexible carrier provides a greaterfreeboard in each instance. Thus, in Fig. 3, there is very littlefreeboard near the center of the rigid carrier whereas thecorrespondingFig. 3A shows substantiallyI 5. almost. normal. freeboardat'. thatpoint .ofthe-Eem ible carrier. Similarly, Fig. 4 shows zerofree'.- board at both ends whereas Fig.. 4A shows. only" a very slightdiminution. ofthe freeboard.

Further advantages. willv occur in, landing. op'- erations, as appearsfrom Figs. 5` and 5A. If thel rigid carrier .of Fig. 5 is. groundedon; abeach, as, shown, it'v will be tilted aboutaxed point, cans.- lng. therear iloat to be. entirelyF submerged'. It. is difficult to lift such acarrier further ontorthe.. beach since itis necessary to. lift halfffofthe weight of the carrier.v However, a. flexible `resillient, carrier,asv shown; in Fig. 5A, will reactdifferently. Due to the flexing of thedeck 24, only a portion of the forward part of the carrier need be,vlifted, the other part. thereof being supportedl by the buoyancy of the.floats.

Attention is now directed to Figs. 6 to 10 showing. a practical.application of the characteristics outlined generally in the schematic.illustrations. described above.. Said gures 'illustrate two modifiedforms of floating. swimmingl pool. Such pools are used in lakesv andrivers .where the. bottom.- due to rocks or mud-1,. is unsuitable. forswimming. In some cases such pools. are necessary to keep sharks,barracuda, and other dangerous water life, away from the swimmers.

Such pools are usually anchored near the shoreand properly moored inplace, being connected to the shore also 'by a gangplank or thev like..

In said gures, the numeral 3l,- indicates. aplurality of floats whichmayv be. of` any form. but... as illustrated, are cylindrical and are.pivotally supported so that they may serve as rollers when the structureis to be beached. These floats. are

supported by struts 32, which.v are preferably three in number (see Fig.10). Passing. through holes in the lower ends of said struts is ashaftx33.l which serves as a trunnion. The upper endsofs the respectivestruts 32 are bolted as; by bolts. 33 to a corresponding number ofresilient -stringers 3.4. These are preferably cut away, as. shown at.3,5, to receive the floor boards 36. It will benotedA that in this formof construction only the` stringers 311 resist bending, of thestructure. These are made of such material and dimensions.- as to givethe desired resiliency to the deck structure made up of said stringersand the floor boards 3B. Referring to Figs. 6 and '7,4 therearel two; ofthese deck structures forming the sides of. the swimming pool thereshown whereas two shorter similar structures are bolted theretol as` bybolts 31, indicated in dotted lines in.. Fig; 7.. These bolts areremoved when the structure is. to be disassembled and stored. Thelongitudinal deck structures may therefore be beached, during; which.operation the floats ac-t as rollers to facili.- tate moving of thestructure. It will be noted that in the form shown in Figs. 6 and 7, theaxes. of the rollers 3| forming part of the end deck. structure are atright angles to theaxes oftherollers 3,! in the longitudinal deckstructure. This permits the end pieces to be drawn out-ofl the waterlengthwise.

On the: other hand, in the form shown in Figs. 8 and 9, the floats 3llocated under the ends of the swimming pool there shown have. their axesparallel to the axes of the float 3l located under the. side deckstructure. This form of constructionis contemplated where the swimmingpool is to be beached and drawn from the water as a unitv rather thanafter disassembly as is contemplated in the form shown in Figs. Gand 7.v

Referring now more particularlyvto the.form of. Figs. 6 and 7, it willbe noted thatvthis form intended: for:-

by good swimmers; The. depth.. ls such that the. user would never standon the` bottom. Thabottom Ml may therefore. be; made of canvas,netting.. orv other flexible material.l attached as; by lacing. 4,1:.to` a rectangular. fra-maf 4:2; which .may be .formed with lateralextensions:- 43 to the. ends.` of which. are' attached. supporting.;lines.l 44 theupper ends. of which may. be. attached: to bits'. 45. Byadjusting the. length. or?. the lines; 44,. thel location of. thebottom. 40. may beyareduasr desired.v The sides of the pool aref:preferably enclosedf by; flexible. material madein. part, atV least-,.ofnetting. In. the form sl1own,.the. sides. are comprised of. netsections66; with which. arel shown.v interspersed. canvas sections 41., the.netting and'. canvas; being connected by lacing.l ropes. 4.8.. The.upper .ends of the side pieces are:` supported. from the.v inner.Stringer 34 as by eyes: tfastenedintothe.- bottom edges thereof. The.-

. bottom edges of. thesidefmembers llcand 4.1 may,I

if desired, be securedito the rectangular frame.; 4:21. butit. ispreferredaas. shownin Figs. 6 arl-dr?,A not, to,= secure them theretobut to have them. pass. on thev outside- Aof said rectangular member andheld. tautv by a. plurality of weights. 5.61. To.v secure the sides. 46,41: close to the rectangular` frame 42, bars 5I. are preferably providedsecured to the rectangularframe E2. The slot between the. rectangularframelll and' the. bars 5l. serves to. receive the sides. 46; 4l... By.means of. this construction, the bottomI dll may be raised anatAlowered.. as desired, while the sides remain taut', dueto theactionofthe Weights 5B.

It. will be. seen that the four deck structures.- described forma. Walkor platform around the. pool. In order: to prevent. users falling offthe outer edge of the platform, axseries of stanchions. 55. arepreferably provided attached to the outer' stringers 3'4. Thesestanchions areconnectedv by a plurality of life-lines made of rope,cable, chain, or other material. It will be noted that these arearranged rather loosely so as not. to. in.- terfere with. the flexingof. the structure so that.. the structuremayv bend in. the directionindicated'. in Figs. 2A. and. 3A, where required. As shown inFigs.. 6`and 7, a; diving. platform may be pro vided for; Thismay comprisestandards 66 carrying aY platform 6l surrounded by a railing 62 andserving as a support for a diving boardA G3.. A stair or ladder E54V isprovided to give access tov theplatform.

Figs. 8 and 9 illustrate a modified form of swimming pool which may beeither a separate. structure, as shown, or may be attached to the end.of the structure shown in Figs. 6 and '7. The swimming pool of Figs. 8and 9 is intended for. non-swimmers. In. this form, the users weight isat: times supported on the oor of the pool which. therefore is maderigid. Such a floor may comprise. longitudinal joists 'i6 to which areattached :door boards 1I. forming the ifoor of the pool. In the formshown, seven joists are employed. Fourv ofthesev are formed withextensions 73A on each. end, through which extensions the floor is sup--ported by meansV of cables 12 attached to eyes v'I3l attached tothe endsof the extensions MA. In the form shown, four such cables are used at.each end. These cables pass over pulleys or sheaves 14 located directlyabove the eyes i3 (Fig. 9) and then run horizontally under the floorboards 36 and thence over a pulley or pulleys 'l5 at. the extreme edgeof the deck structureands. thence upwardly to a winch 16. One suchwinchis provided at each end of the pool so that by adjusting therespective Winches the depth ci the pool may be varied as desired toaccomm' date the age and skill of the users.

It will be noted that although the floor 10, Il is formed rigidly it isconnected to the deck structure only near its ends so that the rigidityof the floor does not in any way interfere with the flexing of the deckstructure. It is, of course, to be understood that stanchions 55 andlife-lines 55 (not shown) would also be provided. The sides may beformed as in the form shown in Figs. 6 and 7, viz., by means of netsections 46 and canvas sections 4l held in place against the sides ofthe oor as by means of rods 5l between which and the edge of the iioorthe side members are arranged. The extensions '10A of the floor joistsmust extend through the end members of the side enclosure. This is bestaccomplished by having the juncture between adjacent sections arrangedin line with the extensions '10A so that the iioor may be raised andlowered without invice may be disassembled but, if preferred, re-

moval may be accomplished without disassembly. To do this, the winches16 are operated to raise the oor as high as possible, this beingsufficiently high to bring the bottom edges of the joists l0 above thebottom edges of the rollers 3|. The entire structure may therefore bedrawn bodily up a suitable beach, the weight being supported upon thefloats 3l which serve as wheels during this operation.

It is clear that the invention may also nd application as a swimmingoat, boat landing float, yliie raft, or as a lighter for transportingcargo, and other uses thereof will be apparent.

It will be noted that the constructions shown A;

and described will serve admirably to accomplish the objects statedabove. It is to be understood, however, that the constructions disclosedabove are intended merely as illustrative of the invention and not aslimiting as various modifications therein may be made without departingfrom the invention as dened by a proper interpretation of the claimswhich follow.

What is claimed is:

l. A vafaterborne swimming pool comprising a plurality of floats, aflexible resilient deck member supported by said oats, a supportingmember carried by each of said floats and connected to said flexibleresilient member, said flexible resilient member serving as the onlyconnection between the iioat supports, means forming a swimmingenclosure comprising side walls and a oor having edges, supporting meansfor said floor connected to said deck member for supporting said door atvarious distances below said deck member, coniining rods spaced from theedges of said iioor so as to provide slots around said edges, said sidewalls being formed of iiexible material and provided with weights forholding said side walls taut, said walls passing through said slotsformed between the floor and said confining rods, so that said floor andwalls form an enclosed swimming compartment.

2. A waterborne swimming pool comprising a plurality of floats, aflexible resilient deck member supported by said fioats, a supportingmember carried by each of said floats and connected to said flexibleresilient member, said flexible resilient member serving as the onlyconnection between the floats, means forming a swimming enclosurecomprising bottom and side walls, said bottom comprising a rigidstructure supported from the flexible resilient deck only by flexiblesupporting means so as not to interfere with the flexibility of thedeck.

3. A waterborne swimming pool comprising a plurality of floats, aflexible resilient deck member supported by said floats, a supportingmember carried by each of said floats and connected t0 said flexibleresilient member, said exible resilient member serving as the onlyconnection between the floats, means forming a swimming enclosurecomprising flexible side walls and a bottom, said bottom comprising arigid floor structure including joists having extensions beyond thefloor area and extending through slits in the eXible side walls, andflexible supporting cables attached to said extensions, whereby saidfloor structure is connected to the deck in such a manner as not tointerfere with the flexibility of the deck.

4. A waterborne swimming pool comprising a plurality of noa-ts which arenormally only partly submerged, a deck member supported by said oats, asupporting member carried by each of said floats and connected to saiddeck member, means forming a swimming enclosure comprising bottom andside walls, said side walls being exible and said bottom comprising arigid structure supported from the deck, together with means for liftingsaid floor to a point where it is all above the lowermost parts of saidfloats so that the structure may be withdrawn from the water and storedwhile resting on said floats.

5. A device in accordance with cl-aim 4 in which the floats arehorizontal cylinders axially journaled to said supporting members sothat they may serve as wheels while the structure is withdrawn from thewater.

6. A waterborne swimming pool comprising a plurality of iioats, asupporting member carried by each of said floats and each connected to adeck member supported by said floats, said oats being of such buoyancyas to be normally partly submerged, said connecting deck member beingflexibly resilient to such an extent as to yield substantially to theaction of waves upon the floats and also to the eect of changes in theextent and location of live loads, said supporting members beingconnected to said deck member only at isolated parts so as not tointerfere with the flexibility of the deck, said deck member beingformed with an opening adapted to accommodate a swimming enclosurecomprising flexible side 'walls and a bottom, said bottom beingconnected to the deck member only by flexible supporting means so as notto interfere with the flexibility of the deck.

'7. A waterborne swimming pool comprising a deck member supported byfloats, said deck member being so formed as to surround an open area,means forming a swimming enclosure located in said open area comprisingside walls and a door having edges, supporting means for said floorconnected to said deck member for supporting said floor at variousdistances below said deck member,

confining rods spaced from the edges of said iioor'- so as to provideslots around said edges, said side said deck member and provided withweights at.

9 their bottom edges for holding said side Walls taut, Number said Wallspassing through said slots formed be- 1,662,683 tween the io-or and saidconning rods, so that 1,718,006 said floor and Walls form an enclosedswimming 1,925,175 compartment. 5 1,994,640 KORD H. STEHR. 2,013,6352,016,456 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in thele of this patent: m Numgeoe UNITED STATES PATENTS 9,855 Number NameDate ml 175.019 Borgfeidt Mar. 21, 1876 l ogz 1,054,505 Butters Feb. 25,1913 15 Name Date Porter Mar. 13, 1928 Reno June 18, 1929 Day Sept. 5,1933 Giliasso Mar. 19, 1935 Seranowioz Sept. 3, 1935 Russell Oct. 8,1935 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Italy 1876 Great Britain Apr. 24, 1911Germany June 2, 1896 Germany 1900 Germany Feb. 13, 1918

